Donald Trump Spent Nearly $1 Million To Get Voters To Wear This Hat : It's All PoliticsIn addition to a traditional campaign structure, the unorthodox presidential candidate is investing heavily in promoting his brand as a way to attract votes.

Donald Trump has run his presidential campaign by his own rules, and he's been blowing away politicians playing by the old rules. Sure, Trump is amassing the building blocks of a traditional campaign structure, but he is also investing heavily to appeal to voters with something that's made him a fortune over the years - branding. NPR's Peter Overby reports.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE: Here's the part of a Donald Trump event that isn't unique. It happened in Jacksonville, Fla.

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DONALD TRUMP: What a group of people. Incredible.

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OVERBY: Then comes the story to connect Trump with Jacksonville. It's not a story any other candidate could tell.

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TRUMP: When I had a casino boat built here, it did great. We sold it, made a lot of money, so I love Jacksonville. I love it.

OVERBY: Politicians don't often brag about making money. Donald Trump does. It's part of his brand.

OVERBY: Brad VanAuken is a branding strategy consultant in Rochester. He's got a checklist of what makes a successful brand.

VANAUKEN: It actually measures the five drivers of customers insisting upon the brand, and the number one driver is awareness.

OVERBY: By now, is anyone not aware of Donald Trump? He's been a celebrity since the 1980s, doing real estate deals, casinos, marriages and reality TV. Trump claims his brand as a sizable chunk of his net worth. Again, Brad VanAuken.

VANAUKEN: If you've heard the saying that any kind of publicity is good publicity, that's largely true. The number two driver of brand insistence is relevant differentiation.

OVERBY: The Trump campaign declined requests for comment for this story. But the relevant differentiation from the other candidates can be teased out of the campaign spending reports for the third quarter. No money for media consultants or TV or pollsters, but plenty of cash for events starring Donald Trump. Three-hundred-forty-nine thousand dollars was spent on venues and production, plus another 10,000 for event staging consulting. At those events, Trump doesn't talk like a politician.

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TRUMP: We're going to have so many wins, they're going to be pouring out of your ears. You're going to get tired of winning. You're going to say, Mr. President, let's have a loss; this is getting boring. And I say, no, I won't do that.

OVERBY: Meredith Post is a brand strategist in Cincinnati. She calls Trump a disruptor in his market of presidential politics. What else is out there that's similar?

MEREDITH POST: There's a lot of disruptive brands out there. One that comes to mind is Axe.

OVERBY: For those who don't know, Axe sells grooming products to guys from their tween's to early 20s. This ad is for a hair product.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Girl #1) Smell my finger.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Girl #2) Who is that?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Girl #1) It's Greg (ph).

OVERBY: Definitely disruptive.

POST: They have an irreverent tone of voice that goes back to what they promise, what the experience will be like. It's something that is unapologetic.

POST: Just because the fact that he added on the again at the end, it spins it to act like America hasn't been great, and so he's going to bring us back.

OVERBY: This summer, the campaign spent more than $900,000 on hats, t-shirts and other stuff emblazoned with Make America Great Again. The hats go for 20 to 30 bucks each at donaldjtrump.com. Your purchase, incidentally, counts as a campaign contribution. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

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